


Bedroom Hymns

by PrettyRacing



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Beth isn't afraid to get what she wants, F/M, May/December Relationship, Rick drinks alot, severe age gap romance, sex between an 18 year old and 30 year old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-01-09 10:05:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12274194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyRacing/pseuds/PrettyRacing
Summary: "I'm done with boys. I'm moving on to men," Beth affirms. "That's a pity," Tara pouts playfully. "Don't tell me you're setting your sights on Officer Friendly, recently divorced and dating the bottle, as I hear."Rick/Beth, AU, no zombies, severe age gap romance.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted November 2014 - January 2015 on ff.net. 
> 
> Not beta-ed, all mistakes are my own.

“Is that deputy Grimes?” 

Beth cranes around Tara to see who her friend is looking at and sees the patrol car coming down the drive. “Yup. Momma invited him over for dinner after church again. She thinks he’s going to starve now that Lori’s gone.” Beth confirmed and both girls watch the car stop and Rick Grimes step out of the car. He sends a wave in their direction, Beth and Tara are sitting on a fence soaking up one of the last nice days of fall, and Beth sends a bright smile as she waves back. 

“That’s an eager smile, Bethy, you got something you need to confess?” Tara asks mischievously. 

“I’ve decided I’m done with boys,” Beth declares, still staring after Rick. They’re far enough away that she knows Rick can’t hear her as he enters the farmhouse. 

“’Bout time! I’ll bring you safely into the world of girl on girl loving,” Tara laughs and nudges her friend playfully with her shoulder. 

“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean I’m done with _boys_. I’m moving on to men,” Beth affirms. 

“That’s a pity,” Tara pouts playfully. “Don’t tell me you’re setting your sights on Officer Friendly, recently divorced and dating the bottle, as I hear.” 

Beth huffs and slides off her perch on the fence. Tara follows and they make their way towards the farmhouse. “His wife divorced him for his best friend and is already pregnant, I think that entitles the guy to a drink or two.” 

“Or a bottle or two?” 

“Besides, he’s always treated me well,” Beth defends.

“Yeah, you’re his friend’s _daughter_ , of course he does.” 

“He’s very attractive.” 

“For a guy, sure. I’ll give you that. Are you sure this has nothing to do with Jimmy dating a freshman?” 

Beth scowls at her friend for bringing up a sore subject. “This has nothing to do with that.” She and Jimmy broke up over a year ago. 

“Or what about Zach also dating a high schooler?” Zach is two years older than Beth, a sophomore in college, and he and Beth broke up just a month ago. Yes, it is true, according to the rumor mill. Both of Beth’s ex-boyfriends are rumored to be dating much younger girls. Illegal, in both cases, if they are having sex. And considering how much sex she had with both of them she doesn’t doubt the illegality. 

Sure, her attraction to older men might be partly spurned out of the disgust she feels for boys her age slobbering over girls that aren’t even sixteen yet, but Rick Grimes is a special case. She can’t remember a time when she didn’t have a crush on Rick Grimes. When she was fourteen and her friends were coo-ing over boy bands and actors (or in Tara’s case, actresses), she was pining for one of the local lawmen. She had been so grateful to her sister Maggie back then, always getting in trouble, Rick Grimes had brought Maggie home in the back of his patrol car on several occasions. Beth had always lurked on the stairs and watched her father and Rick talk while Maggie fumed between them. 

This is a godsend, Beth is now in her senior year, freshly eighteen and legal for a few weeks now, and Rick is freshly divorced and single. Beth knows she doesn’t have long before the single harpies at church start circling Rick after an appropriate amount of grieving time is allowed to Rick and his divorce. Rick is considered a hero in their town, ever since he was shot on duty while stopping some bank robbers a few years back.

Lucky for Beth her father is friends with Rick and her mother had a soft spot a mile wide for the man. Annette Greene insists regularly that Rick come over for dinner and company, Tara wasn’t the only one to hear rumors about Rick’s drinking and Annette was sure all Rick needs is to not be alone. Beth always makes sure to be home if Rick is coming over. She had even skipped out early on cheer practice last week, faking a twisted ankle when practice looked like it was going to go on too long. 

Beth is still in her church clothes, a dress barely long enough to be considered church appropriate and a modest cardigan, and she stops in front of the door to make sure she doesn’t have any dirt on the dress from the fence. Tara snorts at her primping and Beth sends her a last glare before flouncing into the house with a huge smile. Tara follows, amused and ready for a show. 

Rick is sitting in the parlor with a glass of iced tea and Annette fusing at his side. Rick hadn’t shaved for church this morning and Annette’s hints from the morning hadn’t encouraged Rick to remedy the situation yet. Beth is secretly pleased, both Jimmy and Zach could barely grow facial hair, and their stubble was patchy and pathetic if allowed to grow. Beth really wants to feel Rick’s stubble pressed against her skin. “Good afternoon, Mr. Grimes!” Beth greets. 

“Hey Beth, Tara,” Rick greets with a nod. 

“Oh good, you two keep Rick company while I finish dinner. Hershel and Shawn aren’t back yet.” Hershel and Shawn, her father and brother, are seeing to a neighbor’s horse that is sick. 

“Of course! It’ll be my pleasure,” Beth beams at her mother as she retreats to the kitchen. Beth takes a seat next to Rick on the couch, a bit closer than she should and she makes sure her skirt hikes up at bit as she sits. Tara sprawls into a chair across from them. Tara did not go to church this morning, so she is wearing cargo pants and a flannel and looks ready for the supposed ‘show.’ 

“How’s school?” Rick asks diplomatically. 

“Nothing to complain about,” Beth answers truthfully. 

“Easy for miss straight As and darling of the faculty. For the rest of us plebs, it sucks.” Tara responds with a smirk. 

“Tara, are you staying for dinner?” Annette calls from the kitchen. 

“No Mrs. Greene, I should probably be heading back now.” Tara gives Beth an eye, one that says she’ll be sad to miss Beth’s show.

“Come into the kitchen, I have a homemade cherry pie for your father.” Tara’s father has lung cancer and her sister is going through a divorce, so Annette is also mothering and over feeding the Chambler family. 

Tara leaves Rick and Beth alone and Beth eagerly turns so she is sitting at an angle, better to talk to Rick. Her knee is only an inch from touching Rick’s leg. Rick quickly looks away but Beth catches him staring at her thighs and she represses a triumphant grin. 

“Are you staying for the game after dinner?” Beth isn’t sure what is a safe topic for Rick, work involved his wife-stealing former partner and Rick’s home life is now pretty bleak with rare custody of his son, Carl. Rick has stayed over a couple of times to watch the Falcons’ game with her brother and father after dinner. 

“Not tonight.” 

“That’s too bad,” Beth purposely shows her disappointment with a slight pout. 

“I’m working a night shift. I’m on duty at eight.” 

Beth shifts again, just enough that her knee presses into Rick’s. Rick’s attention is again draw to Beth’s legs and he quickly glances away, again. Beth presses just a big harder, so Rick has to look into her eyes, and his gaze is dark and heavy and it sends a thrill to her core. 

“Oi, Barbie, I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” Tara’s voice interrupts the moment and Rick scoots away. Tara had walked in, holding her pie, in just enough time to see it all.

Beth glares at Tara, who smirks in response. Beth stands to see Tara to the door, and as Tara is leaving Beth can see her father’s truck pulling up. She sighs, her moment with Rick is lost. But she is sure Rick is at least attracted to her. She just needs an opportunity for Rick to let his guard down.

-

She gets her opportunity quicker than she would have thought. A little over a week later Beth finds a legitimate reason to be at Rick’s house. Rick had come over for dinner again, this time on a school night, and Beth is in a panic mode because their internet router has died and she has a current events paper due the following day. Most of the paper is done but Beth hasn’t finished yet because she wanted the paper to be as up to date as possible and considering how the ISIS situation changes daily Beth had waited to the last minute to finish it. Rick enters the kitchen as Beth is trying to explain her reasoning to her mother but her clueless yet lovable mother does not keep herself up to date on world events. 

“Honey, they killed Bin Laden years ago, there is no volatile situation anymore.” Her mother says in a sure tone and Beth wants to bang her head against the wall. 

“My internet is working if Beth needs to come over and do some research,” Rick offered selflessly, but quickly doubts himself, “If you think that’s okay, Annette, I don’t want to overstep my—“ 

“Oh Momma, please? I just need to read a few articles and get some cites and update the paper.” Beth isn’t even thinking about her plans to seduce Rick, not at first. She really does have an A average to maintain. 

“Oh Rick, you are such a dear to our family. I have some cookies you can take in thanks,” Annette gushes, and even though they haven’t even eaten dinner yet Annette is pulling out cookies she baked earlier.

And less than an hour later, Beth finds herself following Rick home in her momma’s station wagon with a promise to return no later than her curfew of ten o’clock. 

Rick seems nervous with Beth at his kitchen table with her laptop as he puts away leftovers Annette sent him home along with the cookies. “Momma’s been cooking for an army lately, between feeding you and the Chamblers.” Beth jokes to get Rick to relax. 

“Yeah? I believe it. I’m eating better now than I did before the divorce.” He offers a weak smile and then shifts awkwardly. 

“Don’t worry about me Rick, you do what you normally do. I shouldn’t be too long.” 

Rick relaxes at bit at her words, he pours himself a drink (a generous three fingers of scotch, on the rocks) and leaves the kitchen. Beth hears the TV turn on and she blocks it out while she rushes through her paper. It is just after eight, and maybe she can get some alone time with Rick before she has to leave. 

Forty minutes later Beth is sure her paper is done. She goes to the bathroom before finding Rick. She examines herself in the mirror, touching up her lip gloss and smoothing her hair back. Even though it’s November she’s still wearing a skirt, her boots are at the door and her socks come up her shins. She’s also wearing a v-neck sweater and she pulls it down a bit to show more cleavage, she doesn’t have much to start with, but Lori wasn’t ample either so Beth figures Rick won’t mind. 

Rick’s house seems big and forlorn, it’s the same house he lived in with Lori and Carl but it’s missing half the furniture and almost all the photos that had adorned the walls. She sees one picture of Carl posing in a soccer uniform and it looks several years old. It feels lonely. No wonder Rick has taken up drinking, Beth thinks as she makes her way to the family room where Rick is watching sports center. 

“You done with the paper?” Rick asks as she sits beside him on the couch. He’s more relaxed now, his glass is just half melted ice and Rick is far from drunk but in a friendlier mood. 

“Yup. Thanks again for letting me come over.” She smiles and adjusts her position so her skirt rides up. Rick shifts a bit, and Beth can feel him tensing up so she tries to distract him. “Broncos won again? Figures. Jimmy thinks he’s the next Peyton Manning but we’re 4-6. I doubt Peyton ever had such a bad season.” 

“Jimmy almost had the last game until he threw that interception.” 

“Oh my god, right? Of course he blames the receiver and not himself. Ugh. So glad I’m not dating him anymore.” 

Rick is grinning, he’s got laugh lines forming around his blue eyes and Beth’s breath catches at the sight. She figures she isn’t going to get a better chance than this. She leans forward, slowly as to not spook Rick, and presses her lips against his. Rick is still for a beat, rigid, but Beth persists, tongue sliding along Rick’s bottom lip. And then he’s moving. Suddenly Rick’s got a hand in her hair and he’s angling her head to his liking and then he’s chasing her tongue back into her mouth. 

Rick tastes like scotch and spices, she’s not really a fan of alcohol but this is _Rick_. Rick is sliding his tongue against hers and it feels so good. But then he starts to pull away, “God, I’m sorry Beth. This is wrong.” 

“There’s nothing wrong here, Rick, I’m eighteen.” 

“I’m old enough to be your dad, I’m _friends_ with your dad.” 

“Please, you’re thirty, my dad is seventy-two. There’s no confusion here.” Beth moves to straddle Rick’s lap. Rick’s pupils are wide and Beth can see how much he wants her. 

“But Hershel—“ 

“Please, Rick. I want this. I’m tired of boys, I want a man and I want you.” Her words work. Rick kisses her hard, almost desperate, and Beth starts unbuttoning Rick’s flannel and running her fingers over his chest, marveling at his chest hair. Rick groans into her mouth and his hands are on her hips and sliding up underneath her sweater. Beth shivers at Rick’s bold touch and presses herself closer to Rick. 

All of his previous hesitation is gone as Rick quickly tugs her sweater over her head and begins to mouth her nipples through her bra. Beth gasps, Rick moves with a confidence she isn’t used to. She’s trying to keep up, hands struggling with his belt buckle while Rick successfully unhooks her bra at the same time he’s swirling a nipple with his tongue. Her head is spinning, drunk on pleasure and how successful her plan is going, and then Rick is moving again.

Beth finds herself on her back, skirt pushed up and panties dragged down as Rick’s mouth moves over her pressing kisses into her skin. Rick’s stubble scrapes at her inner thighs and it’s just as delicious as she imagined. And then Rick’s mouth is on her, moving with sureness that Jimmy and Zach never had. He’s relentless, teasing her clit and her entrance with his tongue and Beth doesn’t take long under the pleasurable onslaught and comes with a loud cry. 

She’s trying to catch her breath as Rick kisses his way back up her body, lingering again on both breasts before finally reaching her mouth. She kisses Rick, tasting herself mixed with scotch on his lips, and it’s thrilling. “Rick, fuck me. Please,” she whispers breathlessly against his lips. 

“Fuck, Beth, want to so bad. For so damn long. But I don’t have any condoms,” Rick groans.

Beth’s heart sinks even as Rick admits he’s wanted her for a while. She doesn’t have any condoms either. What kind of seduction plan is that? But Beth doesn’t keep condoms in her room or in any of her purses, she has a good girl image to maintain with her family plus Jimmy and Zach were teenage boys, horny 24/7 with never ending condom supplies. 

“I don’t either,” She’s tempted to tell him to just do it anyways, but she can just see Maggie’s furious face in her mind and she pouts instead. She should have taken Maggie up on her offer to help her get a pill prescription without their parents knowing but Beth, at the time, had thought it too risky. 

“It’s fine. Shit. We shouldn’t be doing this anyway.” Rick pulls away and sits back on his knees. 

“No!” Beth wants this to happen again and again. Once isn’t enough. She’s not satisfied. Well, she is but she’s not done with Rick Grimes. 

Since Rick is already sitting on his knees and Beth quickly sits up and pushes him to lie on his back on the couch. His jeans are unbuttoned to relieve the pressure and Beth’s fingers are encircling him before he can protest. She’s not a fan of blow jobs, she’s only done it a few times, but she wants to keep Rick and thinks in order to keep him wanting her she has to make this amazing for him. 

She sinks down on him slowly, trying to remember what other boys liked, and she’s bopping her head on a few inches with a bit of suction and Rick’s hands are in her hair but he’s restraining himself from thrusting and Beth is grateful. 

It doesn’t take long for Rick to come, he tries to pull her off but she renews her vigor and swallows as he comes. It’s gross. She’s never swallowed before. 

She sits up and then Rick is tugging her to his mouth and he’s devouring her. They lay for a long time, exchanging deep kisses until Beth’s phone beeps and she realizes its nine forty-five. Her phone has a text from Tara, and Beth is thankful her friend interrupts them. 

“Rick, can we do this again?” She asks as she sits up and grabs her sweater and bra off the ground. Rick’s cell is on the coffee table and Beth grabs it to input her cell number. He already has it and Beth smiles in triumph. She, of course, already has Rick’s number. It’s an emergency number her mother made sure she had when she first got her cell when she turned sixteen. 

“Beth, this was a terrible idea, I don’t know…” 

“Please? Rick?” Beth’s eyes are wide as she begs prettily. 

“Shit. I don’t know. Maybe. Yes. God, I’m going to hell.” Beth kisses him again before finally standing to straighten her clothes. Her skirt is wrinkled but it’ll be fine. 

“You’re not going to hell, Officer Grimes. I’ll see you soon. Maybe after the game this Friday? I usually hang out with the girls after a game, no one will suspect a thing.” Rick nods his acquiesce and soon Beth is grabbing her lap top and messenger bag and Rick presses one last desperate kiss on her before she slips out the door. 

-


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted November 2014 - January 2015 on ff.net. 
> 
> Not beta-ed, all mistakes are my own.

“Holy shit, you really did it?”  Tara looks floored as she leans against the wall of lockers.  Beth’s report is firmly in the hands of her Econ teacher and Beth is filling in her best friend on all the dirty details of her previous night with Rick.  

 “Well, not quite it because neither of us had any condoms… but yeah.”  Tara’s shocked ‘oh’ face is hilarious and Beth tries not to smirk.   

“You seduced deputy Grimes.”   

“Hey, it wasn’t easy, I laid months of ground work of flirting and touching and wearing cute outfits.”   

“Months?  You’ve only been single for a month and a half.” Tara gives her a look and Beth gives her a disarming smile, “And I’ve been crushing on Rick since I was fourteen.  I think he was even the first guy I ever masturbated to.”   

“Mine was Angelia Jolie from the Tomb Raider movies.”   

“Back when Daniel Craig and Gerard Butler were nobodies,” Beth reminisced. 

“I can’t believe Rick Grimes would risk everything just for sex,” Tara brings the conversation back to Beth’s seduction of everyone’s favorite deputy.   

“Risk?  There’s no risk.  I’m eighteen,” Beth finally finishes switching out her textbooks and slams her locker shut.  They continue the conversation as they walk through the crowded halls towards the cafeteria for lunch.   

“You think Lori wouldn’t try to have his custody revoked?  Or that others at the sheriff’s office wouldn’t be okay with your relationship?”   

“Relationship?  Slow down, nobody is finding out about this. I want one thing and one thing only from Rick Grimes.  Sex,” Beth says firmly. 

Tara shakes her head with a sigh, “Do you remember when you were fourteen and threw Maggie’s birth control pills in the pond because you were so distraught at the idea that she was having sex?  Whatever happened to that girl?”   

Beth takes a moment to remember her younger, more naïve self.  Back when she thought she and Jimmy were Meant-To-Be and that they would get married.  She had thought her first time would be magical, with fireworks and foot-popping kisses.  What a disappointing, painful lesson that had been. Jimmy hadn’t known what he was doing, and neither had she. “She turned sixteen and started dating the rising star quarterback.” Beth answers Tara’s question.  “C’mon, the media and our culture are saturated with sex, twenty-four seven.  And so far, I don’t get the hype.  Let’s face it, boys our age don’t know what they’re doing.  And I’m on a mission to find this mind blowing sex other people seem to be having.”   

“Maybe the gender you’re choosing is the problem,” Tara says cheekily.   

Beth winks, “Maybe.  I’ll let you know Saturday morning after I’ve had my way with Deputy Grimes.” 

-

Tara drops her off at Rick’s house after the game.  Beth is sure that if any rumors start they’ll be that Beth is secretly dating Tara, her gossipy cheer friends have never really liked the openly out brunette.   Rick answering the door tears her from her thoughts and Beth waves at Tara as she drives away.   

Rick just stares at her, she’s still in her blue and gold cheer uniform with make-up and a high pony, her duffle is slung over her shoulder with a fresh change of clothes.    

“Hey,” Beth greets as she slides by him and into his house.   

“Shit,” Rick curses and can’t take his eyes off her as he shuts the door.   

“Momma thinks I’m staying the night at Tara’s so I’m all yours.”  Rick is still staring at her legs.  “I hope you picked up condoms?”  Beth still hadn’t.   

“I went all the way to Linden County to buy them.” Rick tells her and Beth nods.  They live in a small community that loves gossip. Someone would notice if Rick was buying condoms, heck they already notice how much liquor Rick buys.   

“Are you hungry?  I ordered pizza, it just got here ten minutes ago,” Rick looks nervous but he can’t take his eyes off her. 

“I’m starved!” Beth agrees.  Normally she goes out to the diner with some of the players and girls after a game but she was too eager to get to Rick tonight. 

They sit on the couch with the TV on, Beth eats three slices and Rick seems amused by her appetite.   

“What?  We’re gonna burn off the calories, right?”  Beth asks cheekily and Rick laughs.  It’s such a welcome sound, and Beth beams at him in response.  And then Rick is pulling her into a kiss and Beth can taste pizza and beer and _Rick_. 

Rick seems to have completely given in to his base desires and accepted that this was happening because there’s no hesitation as his hands slide beneath her short skirt.  He growls when he meets resistance in the form of not only her gold briefs but tights as well.   

Beth giggles and gets off the couch.  “It was only forty-five degrees at the game tonight, of course I’m wearing tights.” Rick’s eyes are dark as he watches her wiggle out of her undergarments.  It isn’t a sexy show, not until Beth is free of the tights and briefs.   

“We doing this here, officer Grimes?” Beth asks coyly.  Rick stands, pulling her into his arms for a deep kiss and Beth wraps her arms around his neck.  She squeals in surprise as Rick lifts her into his arms, she knows Rick is toned but he doesn’t have bulky muscles and his display of strength surprises her and turns her on as he carries her up the stairs.   

His bedroom is also empty of anything on the walls but the walls are painted a color Beth can’t properly identify in the low light.  Rick deposits her gently on the bed leans back to study her.   

Beth blushes under the intense gaze and turns around on her knees.  “Will you unzip me?” Beth asks coyly over her shoulder.  Beth can reach just fine, but the feeling of Rick’s warmth on her back as he slowly unzips her form fitting top causes her to shiver.  Rick doesn’t pause after the top is unzipped and goes for the short zipper in the skirt. Beth lets the skirt and top drop and she turns around again, this time posing in just her white cotton sports bra and panties.   

“I’m gonna burn in hell for this,” Rick’s pupils are so blown that Beth can hardly see any blue. He doesn’t look hesitant or like he has any plans to stop.  

“It’ll be worth it,” Beth says as she rises to her knees again and goes after Rick’s belt.  Rick quickly sheds his jeans and boxers and Beth peels off her sports bra but doesn’t get her panties before Rick is kneeling in front of her, pulling her into an open mouth kiss and he’s devouring her. His warm palms are running along her sides and then cupping her breasts and he gently presses her back into his sheets.     

Rick’s mouth leaves hers and starts a trail of wet kisses down her throat and chest until he reaches her breasts.  Beth isn’t idle.  She reaches for Rick’s full cock, standing proud and begging for attention.  She presses his cock against her already wet entrance, and there’s only a thin piece of cotton separating them.  She pumps him slowly with her hand and Rick groans against her skin.   

He sits back, pulling out of her grasp and Beth tugs down her panties impatiently.   

“Condoms?” Beth asks but Rick just stares at her as he takes her all in.  Beth doesn’t have an inch of hair, she’s smooth and on display and even though Rick’s seen it before he seems mesmerized.  Then again last time he’d already had three generous fingers of scotch.   

“What’s the rush, sweetheart?” Risk asks in a deep drawl that goes straight to Beth’s core.  What is the rush?  She’s used to sex happening quickly, boys eager to get to the goal that don’t spend much time on anything until they’re balls deep.  But Rick looks like he could stare at her all night, content, and Beth thinks she could probably come from his intense look alone.   

But thankfully he leans back in, he hovers over her, capturing her mouth again and his cock rubs and slides against her wet folds but doesn’t venture in.  It’s a sweet torture and Beth tries to reach for Rick’s cock, to get him so excited that he can’t wait, but he captures her hands and holds them above her head.  Beth lays there, unable to move much as Rick moves slowly over her, her nipples are peaked and rubbing in his chest hair and she’s taunt as a string and feels like she’s about to snap from Rick’s teasing.  Rick keeps at it until she’s whimpering below him, soft, breathy pants of “please.” She comes hard, just from Rick’s cock sliding against her clit.   

While Beth lies panting, recovering from her orgasm, Rick finally grabs a condom from his nightstand and rips it open.  She watches him roll it on and then he’s looking at her with his intense blue eyes and asks, “Are you ready?”   

“Oh god, more than anything.” And Beth means it. Rick hasn’t even penetrated her yet and already this is by far her best sexual experience. 

And Rick slides into her with one easy, smooth thrust.  Rick isn’t holding her hands this time, he’s holding her thighs open wide against the bed and she clings to his shoulders, one hand reaching for his curls to hang on to as he drives into her at a steady pace that she happily matches.  And Beth, she’s climbing again, she’s in disbelief as she feels the buildup, the pleasant tingle. Sure, she’s heard girls talk about multiple orgasms but she’s never experienced it for herself, and then Rick adjusts his angle, thrusts harder and faster and Beth is lost. 

 Rick’s tight grip on her thighs brings her back, as he shouts his orgasm.  He collapses at her side, pulling free from her, and Beth feels the loss of him in her chest.  Holy fuck, that was intense, she thinks blissfully.  She rolls on her side, eager for more kissing, and as Rick’s arms encircle her waist she thinks she’ll be content to spend the rest of her life, naked, in this bed.   

- 

“You said the other day that you’ve wanted me for a while.  How long?” Beth asks curiously.  They’ve already had sex twice, Beth has come three times and is quite content half sprawled over Rick’s chest, fingers running mindless patterns on Rick’s chest. She props her head up with her arm so she can see Rick as he responds.  

Rick looks ashamed, “I swear I never looked at you, thought of you in any way until this summer.”   

“Since summer?”   

“I didn’t really look at any other women while I was with Lori, even though sex was rare the last few years.  And over the summer you were sunbathing in a bikini in your front yard and it hit me that you weren’t some little girl anymore.  God, I don’t even think I could look Hershel in the eye for a week after I realized I was attracted to you.”   

“I was with Zach still.”  Beth remembers that day, she had been wearing that bikini because Zach was coming over to hang out and Beth wanted him to pay more attention to her than talk about movies or videogames with her brother.  Rick had come by with Deputy Lamb to ask her dad for his vet expertise on a case.  She remembers that the moment she noticed Rick she purposely interrupted to see if she could get Rick and Lamb anything, she had wanted just an ounce of Rick’s attention but he had ignored her, or so she thought.   

“You mean I could have jumped you then?”   

“No!  God, you were still seventeen.  Why do you think I started going to church more often over summer?  Was praying for my sins.”   

“Well, that wasn’t a great idea, I purposely dressed cute at church to get your attention,” Beth grins mischievously.   

“Why do you want me?”  Rick looks confused and Beth rolls her eyes. Clearly the man doesn’t look in the mirror often. 

“Why wouldn’t I want you?  Rick, you’re super hot.”   

“I am?”  

“Uh, yeah, and now that I know how good you are in bed I’m not letting you go.”   

“You’re going to be the death of me, Beth Greene,” Rick groans but pulls her into a kiss regardless. 

- 

“Rick! You have no food in your fridge!” Beth chides as she browses through Rick’s fridge.  There’s plenty of beer and several condiments and a small carton of coffee creamer.  She shuts the door and turns to pout at Rick.  Rick’s watching her with a small smile, he’s only wearing sleep pants that are riding low on his hips and Beth is easily distracted by the sight.  She herself is only wearing one of Rick’s white t-shirts and panties.  

Rick turns to his pantry and pulls out a box of pop tarts. “You want ‘em toasted?”  He asks as he opens a package of brown sugar pop tarts.  

“Yes please,” Beth replies as she hops up on the counter beside Rick and the toaster. 

“So, why are you even a cheerleader?  You hardly seem the type.”  Rick asks while they wait for the toaster. 

“Hey, not every cheerleader is the typical snobby, dumb blonde stereotype.  And I did date the quarterback for nearly a year.”   

“I just mean, you’re in the church and school choirs, and you play the piano, sometimes for the choir.”   

“I’m teasing, I know I don’t fit in with the other girls most of the time.  But they’re nice enough.  Tara is my bestie though.  I do it for the dancing.  Our school isn’t big enough to have its own dance team.  I want to be an actress in musicals and plays,” Beth tells Rick truthfully. Since she was a little girl she’s wanted to sing on stage.  

“Really?”   

“Daddy’s not a fan, he only let me apply to colleges with ‘real’ degrees along with theater programs,” Beth rolls her eyes as she thinks about her father’s strictness. 

 “What’s a real degree?”  Rick asked amused. 

“Anything but majoring in art or theater, according to daddy.” Rick laughs and Beth giggles as well.  

They’re silent as Beth eats her toasted pop tart and Rick sips his extra strong coffee. Beth is thinking about the upcoming week and when she’ll be able to sneak away again.  If she had her way she’d come over every day but she knows the risk of being caught would be too high.  She has to be smart about this.  

“Beth…” Rick interrupts Beth’s plotting, “what exactly are we doin’?”  Rick looks troubled and Beth’s heart starts to pound.  She has to find a way to calm Rick down, she can’t have the man backing out now.  

“I’m eating a pop tart, and hopefully you are mentally planning your grocery list,” Beth responds lightly. 

“That’s not what I meant.” Rick’s eyes are serious and Beth sighs.  

“I know what you meant. This isn’t a big deal, Rick, its just sex.  And we’ll keep doing what we’re doing until one of us wants to stop.  Simple.”  Beth looks Rick in the eyes so he can see how serious she is. 

“Simple,” Rick sounds doubtful. 

“Oh my god, you and Tara are such worry warts. _No one_ is going to find out.  Now, what’s your schedule look like this week?”  Rick sighs but quickly gives in.  

-


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted November 2014 - January 2015 on ff.net.
> 
> Not beta-ed, all mistakes are my own.

“Are we inviting Mr. Grimes to Thanksgiving?” Beth asks casually, one afternoon while she’s helping her mother in the kitchen.  She’s peeling asparagus and doesn’t look up at her mother to keep the nonchalance of her question.  She’s managed to get to Rick’s once more since their Friday night of pleasure, telling her mother she had a group project for one of her classes and that she was at the library.  

 

“I did.  He’s said he’d come. I think we’re really helping him, last weekend at church he was smilin’.”  

 

Or it was because I’d just fucked his brains out, Beth thinks triumphantly but she doesn’t look up, but still playing aloof.  

 

“Also, Martha down at the liquor store says Rick only bought one bottle of Dewar’s and one case of beer last week.”  Annette is smiling and Beth doesn’t want to know what he used to buy if that’s not much.  But Beth thinks a bit longer on the subject.  He’s buying less alcohol?  She feels a sense of giddiness overcoming her.   _She’s_ helping Rick.  

 

* * *

 

Beth is unbelievable frustrated.  She has the entire week off of school for Thanksgiving break and she hasn’t had a single opportunity to be with Rick.  Between his long hours and her extended family coming into stay at the farm for the holiday she can’t sneak away.  

 

And then Rick shows up on Thanksgiving, freshly shaven and wearing nice jeans that frame his ass and Beth wants to jump him right there, in front of her entire family.  Hell, Maggie would probably be grateful that the scrutiny would finally be off of her new boyfriend Glenn, whom she brought home for Thanksgiving for the first time.  

 

Beth gets her opportunity not long after Rick arrives.  One of the tractors is stuck in the mud out in the fields, and with so many able bodies around Otis takes a group out to the fields to pull it out.  Rick and Shawn come back to the farm house head to toe in mud.  Between the five volunteers and Otis’ truck, Rick and Shawn were thrown into the mud when the tractor came lose.  Rick and Shawn are grinning as Annette panics at the mess.  Lucky for Rick, he and Shawn are about the same size so he borrows jeans and a shirt and Beth volunteers her bathroom for Rick to shower in.  

 

Beth shares a bathroom with Maggie, it’s the Jack and Jill style and the way into the bathroom is either through Maggie’s or Beth’s room.  Beth and Maggie are both sharing their rooms with visiting cousins.  But Beth risks it anyways.  

 

She shows Rick into the shared bathroom and returns to mingle with her family downstairs.  The house is full of people spread throughout the first floor and no one notices when she slips away again ten minutes later and scurries back up the stairs.  

 

She makes sure Maggie’s room is empty before closing the door to her sister’s room and then retreats to her own.  The water is off but Rick is still in the bathroom and Beth quickly sheds her nice dress to ensure it doesn’t get any wrinkles.  She grabs a condom that she stole just yesterday from Maggie’s supply and wonders briefly where Maggie and Glenn have managed to sneak off to for sex this week.  

 

Rick opens the door into her bedroom just as Beth is debating about taking off her bra and panties and he stops short at the sight of Beth wearing only a lacy bra and matching underwear.  “Shit, Beth, what are you doing?”  

 

“C’mon, Rick, we’ll be quick.” Beth says eagerly and approaches Rick.  He’s only wearing a towel around his waist, Shawn’s borrowed clothes are sitting on her desk.  

 

“Your entire family is downstairs.  Your father will kill me.”  

 

“Only if we get caught.  Now, the less we talk the less time this will take.” Beth says as she unhooks her bra.  She’s only a step away from Rick and she eases the bra off her shoulders and Rick can’t take his eyes of her exposed nipples.  His eyes are dark and hungry.  “Fuck,” he curses right before he leans down and draws her into a hot kiss.  Beth moans as Rick’s tongue chases hers.  Beth tears the towel off his waist and Rick’s hands are tugging her panties down.  

 

Rick breaks the kiss to look around, her bedroom door is shut but the bathroom one is cracked, but neither makes a move to close it.  Instead Rick scoops her up and heads to her bed.  

 

“Rick, I want you so bad.  I want your cock fucking me _hard_.” Beth whispers in his ear and Rick growls.  Beth’s never been so turned on in her life.  Beth rips into the condom and Rick grabs it from her to roll it on.  He’s already hard and Beth’s been wet since she thought up her plan.  

 

Rick takes her against the wall her bed is against, he’s on his knees on her bed and has her thighs splayed open wide and he’s in her in one swift stroke.  Beth muffles her cries of pleasure in Rick’s shoulder and hangs on for dear life as Rick rocks into her relentlessly.  He’s on a mission to make it quick but he’s not letting her pleasure suffer.  

 

A movement at the bathroom door catches her attention, Beth looks over and sees Maggie’s shocked face peeking out and Beth rather die than have Rick stop his thrusting.  So she sends Maggie a wicked grin and a wink.  Maggie’s done enough sexually deviant acts around the farm so Beth hopes her sister will keep her mouth shut.  

 

And then she stops thinking about her sister as Rick’s fingers snake between them and tweak her clit.  Beth bites down hard on Rick’s shoulder and squeezes her eyes closed tight as she orgasms.  Rick is pulsing into her a moment later and they both take a minute to catch their breaths.  Then Rick is moving away, he discards the condom in the trash and then he’s pulling on his borrowed clothes.  

 

Beth follows leisurely, and she can’t hear any noise from the bathroom and assumes Maggie has left.  She only has her bra and panties back on by the time Rick is fully clothed.  He helps her back into her dress and sneaks in one last kiss.  

 

“You go down first, I need a minute.”  Beth says quietly and Rick nods.  

 

Rick leaves her room and Beth heads to her sister’s room from their shared bathroom.  

 

Maggie is sitting on her bed, arms crossed and stern faced when Beth enters.  “Hey,” Beth greets and bounces onto the bed beside Maggie.  

 

“What are you doing, Elizabeth Greene?  How the hell did you seduce Rick Grimes?”  

 

“Who says he didn’t seduce me?”  Beth pouts.  Beth has worked very hard maintaining her good girl image.  

 

“’Cuz that was _Rick Grimes_.  Saint of King County.  He took a bullet two years ago for this town.  What are you going to do when Daddy finds out?”

 

“Who says he’s going to?  This is just sex.  Delicious, mind-blowing sex.”  

 

“Just sex?” Maggie’s asks skeptically.  

 

“Yes.  C’mon, he needs the comfort after his divorce and I get to have sex with a man that knows what he’s doing.  For once,” Beth huffs.    

 

“How did you even manage to convince him?”  

 

“Weeks and weeks of slight touches and smiles and then I jumped him,” Beth says proudly.  

 

“This is going to end badly, Bethy.”  

 

“Oh my god, no it’s not.  Are you’re not going to tell anyone, right?”  

 

“Hell no.  I don’t want anyone knowing that I know when this thing blows up in your face.”

 

* * *

 

Their next tryst is actually initiated by Rick. 

 

Beth is surprised, to say the least, when she checks her phone after choir practice at church and sees a voicemail from Rick.  The message is vague, but Rick’s tone is weary:  “Hey, can you stop by at all tonight?  I just—I need—shit.  Let me know.  Bye.” 

 

Beth immediately calls her house after deleting the voicemail and thankfully her mother answers.  “Hey Momma, Tara is having a boy crisis and asked if I can come over for a bit—“ 

 

“Don’t you dare lie to me, baby girl.” Her mother’s voice is stern and Beth’s heart rate sky rockets. 

 

“What?  Momma, I’m sorry.”  She doesn’t know how she’s caught.  It is possible Tara is actually at her house, Tara escapes to Beth’s whenever her dad’s sickness or sister’s mothering is too much for Tara to handle.  Why the hell didn’t she check with Tara first before making up a lie?  She’s really not good a lying, it’s a new thing for her. 

 

But her mother’s tone is jovial as she responds, “Bethy, honey, I have ears.  I know Tara isn’t having _boy_ problems.” 

 

And Beth gets it at her mother’s enunciation of boy.  “You caught me… Tara is having _girl_ problems.” 

 

“Aha!  Okay sweetie, it’s a school night so you know the drill.  Be home by ten.” 

 

“Will do!”  Beth has never broken her curfew.  She’s learned a lot from her older sister and brother and her parents trust Beth much more than her siblings were trusted.  Beth knows there are some rules that you just can’t break with parents, and one of them is curfew.  Nothing raises a parent’s curiosity at one’s actions more than curfew breaking. 

 

Beth sends Rick a text as she gets into the station wagon letting Rick know she’s on her way over.  Beth panics for a moment, wondering if Rick’s neighbors will recognize her car if she leaves it parked outside Rick’s house, but Rick seems to have thought of that.  His patrol car is in the drive and the garage open, leaving Beth room to pull into the garage next to his old truck. 

 

She closes the garage door as she lets herself into Rick’s house through the door from the garage.  Rick is entering the kitchen as she walks in, probably summoned by the sound of the garage door motor. 

 

“Hey,” Rick greets. 

 

‘Hi,” Beth greets him with a big smile and she can she Rick’s shoulders relax at the gesture.  He pulls her into his arms and kisses her lightly and Beth hums her approval even though she can taste scotch again.  “Is everything okay?  Your voicemail was very vague.  You know you can text me, right?  I swear I’ll delete them after I read them.” 

 

Rick’s eyebrow raises in response, “You think you can delete texts?  Do you know how easy it is to access texts?  I’m a cop, Beth.” Rick reminds her and Beth flushes. 

 

“Well? Is everything okay?” 

 

Rick sighs and pulls away, leaning back against the counter.  “Do you need to eat or anything?” 

 

“I’m fine.  I ate at the church,” Beth says as she takes off her coat.

 

“I… Lori and Shane want a paternity test and I had to see them both today at the clinic and… it was rough.” 

 

“A paternity test?” Beth gapes. 

 

“They think I’ll fight for custody of their kid since technically we were still married when Lori conceived.”  Rick’s looking at the ground and the tension is back in his shoulders. 

 

Beth crosses the kitchen, tossing her coat and purse carelessly onto his kitchen table before she’s pulling Rick into her arms and running her fingers through his hair soothingly.  Rick leans into her touch.  “Why don’t we go to the couch?” Beth suggests and Rick nods. 

 

She leads him to the family room, the only couch left in his house.  She pushes him down to sit and then climbs into his lap.  Beth’s curiosity is killing her, Rick and Lori have been separated since January, right after the holidays, and Lori is about seven months pregnant according to rumors.  “Is it… is it possible that the baby is yours?”  She asks hesitantly. 

 

Rick shrugs in her arms, “I suppose.  There was once, not long after we separated.  We were fighting and one thing led to another… god, it was horrible.”  Rick cracks a grin.  “We hadn’t had sex for months before that.  Supposedly she started sleeping with Shane the summer before we separated.” 

 

“What?”  Beth is outraged for Rick. 

 

“Yeah, so… it was rough seeing them today,” Rick sighs.

 

“When do you get the results?” 

 

“Not for at least six weeks.  I’m in no hurry for that day.”

 

“Well, I think I can make you forget.” Beth says in a light tone. 

 

Rick’s eyes are so serious, so intent as he responds with a quiet, “yeah.” 

 

Beth distracts him with a teasing kiss, and they spend long moments just kissing, tongues sliding against each other.  Beth is a bit surprised, normally Rick is quick to get her naked even if they aren’t quick to fuck.  But Rick’s hands aren’t moving on her hips, just rubbing circles into her leggings with his thumbs.  So Beth pulls back just enough so she can pull her sweater over her head.  She’s still wearing a cami top and her bra and she guides Rick’s head to her chest.  Rick nips at the swell of her breast right above the line of her top and finally his hands move up her hips to the hem line of the cami. 

 

Beth’s hands go for Rick’s belt buckle and soon she is fumbling into Rick’s jeans and pulling down his boxers enough so she can get a hand on his cock.  She trails her fingers lightly along his length before making a fist around him.  It doesn’t take long for Rick to fully harden and Rick isn’t idle now that Beth has ahold of him.  He’s tugging down her leggings and leaving tiny nips on her skin.  Beth lets go of him and stands up enough to kick off her boots and finish tugging her leggings down.  Rick is taking off his jeans the rest of the way and as soon as they’re gone he pulls Beth back into his lap and helps her out of her cami top and bra. 

 

Beth’s main goal is to keep Rick’s mind off Lori and Shane and paternity tests so she reaches for Rick’s cock again to give him light, teasing strokes that have him groaning into her neck.  One of his hands leaves her and fumbles between the couch cushion to pull out a condom. 

 

“You stashed condoms in the couch?  What if someone finds them?” Beth giggles as she takes the condom from him and tears into the wrapper. 

 

“Whoever it would be would probably be shocked that it wasn’t a shooter or something,” Rick says with a smirk as he watches her intently as she scoots back enough to roll on the condom for him.  Beth gives him a cheeky grin as she successfully rolls it on.  Before Rick can adjust their positions Beth is sinking down on him slowly.  She hisses at the burn, she wasn’t fully prepared but Rick’s head falls backwards and his grip on her hips tightens while he lets out a low moan.  Beth smiles in triumph at his reaction and she starts a slow, steady pace of rising and sinking on his cock. 

 

Neither of them try to hurry up the pace for several long moments, not until Rick starts to whisper in her ear filthy words about how good she feels.  Beth whispers back a breathy “show me” and then her world is tilting as Rick starts to move them both forward.  Beth holds on to Rick’s shoulders as he pushes her back to lie on the coffee table and he’s on his knees entering her again.  He starts rocking into her, short powerful thrusts.  After that it doesn’t take long for Beth to spiral off the edge, her vision going white.  Rick really lets loose then, the sound of skin slapping skin fills the room quickly followed but Rick grunting his release. 

 

Rick sinks to the floor to his knees and pulls Beth with him into his lap.  Rick presses kisses into every inch of skin he can reach and Beth giggles happily.  Rick is clearly not thinking about Lori and Shane anymore, and she’s giddy that Rick came to her for comfort instead of drinking, which is his normal reaction when a Lori related subject comes up.  She takes a moment to be smug, to think that sleeping with her is the best thing Rick Grimes has ever done.

 

-


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted November 2014 - January 2015 on ff.net.
> 
> Not beta-ed, all mistakes are my own.

The next six weeks pass quickly.  Beth loves Christmas time and the Greene Family celebrates from Thanksgiving to Three Kings’ Day with tons of good food and cheer.  Beth is only able to sneak away to Rick’s place twice her entire Christmas break.  Rick’s house is barren of any Christmas decorations and Beth tries to ignore how lonely his house feels and the bottle of scotch at Rick’s bedside.  Rick only makes it to the Greene’s for an advent dinner and works double shifts on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

 

When Beth is back in school she is able to sneak away to Rick’s easier under the guise of studying or cheer practice.  It’s a cold Sunday when Rick finds out the results of Lori’s paternity test. Beth spends the day with Tara, Beth working on college application essays while Tara researches requirements on becoming a police officer. 

 

“I could be the next Rick Grimes, and maybe some young girl will want to get into my pants,” Tara jokes and waggles her eye brows at Beth. 

 

“You’ll be the first crush of little lesbians everywhere,” Beth giggles.  She spends longer than she intended with Tara, she has about an hour before her parents expect her home and a drive by Rick’s house confirms he’s home even though he doesn’t answer her phone call.  So she parks and knocks on the door.  There’s no response but lights are on.  She tries the door and it’s unlocked so she lets herself in.  At this point she’s worried more than horny.  

 

“Rick?”  She calls out.  

 

“Beth?” she hears from the family room and Rick is sitting on the floor between the couch and the coffee table with a glass in one hand and a mostly empty bottle of Dewar’s on the coffee table.  

 

“Rick, what’s wrong?”  Beth asks cautiously, she’s barely in the room and can smell the alcohol.  

 

“It’s mine.”  

 

“What’s yours?”  

 

Rick is gesturing to a letter also on the table and Beth picks it up.  Her eyes widen as she reads.  “Yup.  My whore ex-wife’s baby is mine.”  

 

Beth heard the rumor that Lori already had the baby, how she had a bad case of preeclampsia and gave birth early.  She and the baby were still in the hospital, still under watch and that was over a week ago.  And the letter reads that subject two, Rick Grimes, is the father of that baby.  

 

“Holy shit,” Beth whispers.  

 

“I never would have gone after this, gotten this damn test, if they hadn’t insisted.  Even if that baby had mine and Carl’s blue eyes, I wouldn’t have pursued this.”  

 

Beth sinks to the floor next to Rick.  What can she say?  She has no idea how to comfort Rick.  Last time she used sex but Rick is three sheets to the wind and angry.  

 

“This baby isn’t going to know me.  I only get Carl two weekends a month, how the fuck is this baby going to know me?  I’m a deadbeat dad.”  Rick’s grip on his glass is tight, fingernails red from the pressure. 

 

“No, you’re not.”  

 

“Fuck.  I am though.  I worked 60 hour work weeks when Carl was born, why do you think we never had more kids?  I hardly was around for Carl.  She used to bitch about it all the time.  She’s not gonna let me see this baby.  And if by some miracle the judge grants me some custody I won’t know how to take care of an infant.”

 

Rick’s grasp on the glass loosens as Beth reaches to take it from him and places it on the table. She crawls into his lap and pulls Rick’s head to rest on her shoulder.  Rick clutches her to his chest, grip firm on her hips, and Beth runs her fingers through his curls soothingly.  “Rick, things will work out.  A judge is going to let you see this baby, especially after all the drama they went through to make sure it isn’t yours.  And I’ll help you.”  

 

“You’ll help?”  Rick’s tone is so lost and Beth’s heart aches for the despair that’s clear in his voice.  

 

“I’m one of the most sought after babysitters in this town.  I help out in the church nursery whenever they are short handed.  And I love babies.  I’ll help you through this.”  

 

Rick pulls away just enough to look into her eyes, they’re red and dry but he looks at her like she’s an angel.  “I don’t deserve this.”  And then he leans in for a kiss.  It’s sloppy, and Beth thinks she might get a buzz off just his breath, but it’s not full of lust, just Rick seeking comfort.  

 

And they stay on the floor in each other’s arms, exchanging soft kisses until Beth’s phone beeps, it’s a warning alarm that Beth only has fifteen minutes to get home.  Rick lets her go, whispering thank you in Beth’s hair before he lets her leave.  And it’s the hardest thing she’s ever done, leaving Rick Grimes while he’s in such pain, her only consolation is the look in his eyes isn’t as scary as it was when she arrived.

 

* * *

 

Lori Grimes has a strong case, and she makes a very sympathetic mother figure but Rick Grimes is widely considered the best deputy in the county.  And Lori can’t prove Rick’s heavy drinking in court, Rick paid cash for his liquor so there are no bank records for evidence.  The Judge doesn’t care for Lori’s waterworks in the courtroom, as Beth hears it, and Rick is given the same custody of Judith Walsh Grimes as he has over Carl.  Two weekends a month.  

 

Rick tells Hershel, Annette and Beth about the custody deal while he’s at a Greene family dinner.  “Oh Rick, Beth will help you!”  Both Rick and Beth stare at Annette in shock.  Her mother beat them to the punch, which was better for them and their secret dalliances.  “Beth loves babies.  But she knows she can’t have any until she’s married, right?”  

 

“Right, Momma,” Beth nods with a blush.   

 

“I don’t want to impose, Annette, your family is already too good to me.”  Rick doesn’t want to seem to desparate for Beth’s help.

 

“Please, Rick, you’re practically family,” Hershel confirms.  “As long as Beth is okay with it.”  

 

“Of course!  You’re right, I do love babies,”  Beth tries not to sound too eager.  Annette is too excited to think on why Beth would be so eager, she immeaditely starts telling Rick what baby supplies they still have, that they have been saving for grandchildren and that Rick can take whatever he needs.

 

* * *

 

Lori looks like she’s on a warpath the first time she drops baby Judith off along with Carl for a weekend.  She marches into the house, Shane on her heels with the baby carrier, both looking stern.  Rick has shaved, he looks presentable, and he told Beth he hadn’t had a single drink of hard liquor the whole previous week, just a couple of beers.  

 

Lori stops short when she sees Beth standing beside Rick.  Beth is wearing leggings and an oversized sweater, hair pulled back in a high bun and she wonders if Lori can sense that she’s sleeping with her ex-husband.  

 

“Beth Greene is here?” Lori asks cautiously.  

 

“Hello Mrs.—Ms. … Lori,” Beth stumbles, she has no idea how to address the older woman.  She’s technically still a Grimes as she and Shane aren’t married yet and she didn’t bother to get her maiden name back after the divorce.  “I’m helping Rick out on his weekends with Judith and Carl.” Beth says with a friendly, and what she hopes is innocent, smile.  

 

“Oh,” and suddenly Lori looks relieved, her posture relaxes and she actually smiles.  “That’s great.  Thank you so much, Beth.”  

 

“It’s no problem.  I love children.”  Beth bends down to peek at the baby in the carrier.  Judith is about six weeks old and the cutest baby Beth’s ever seen.  “Hi there, precious!”  Beth coos.  

 

“Beth will be here the whole time?”  

 

“She’s staying tonight and tomorrow night.  She has cheer practice tomorrow for a couple of hours but otherwise she’s here.”  Rick confirms.  

 

“And we’re going to my house for dinner tomorrow night with my family.”  Beth wants Lori to know everything that will be happening over the weekend.  Well, everything involving Judith.  

 

“Oh wow.  This is… a relief.  Thank you, Beth.  I hope this isn’t a burden for you, surely an eighteen year old like you had plans for the weekend.”  

 

“Oh it’s no trouble at all. Momma and I worked this out the moment Rick mentioned the custody arrangement.”  

 

“Well, I know Lori will sleep much better tonight with you here, Beth.” Shane offers with a smile.  

 

And then Lori takes Beth aside and launches into all the details concerning Judith, completely ignoring Rick.  Beth takes Lori upstairs to show off the nursery, telling Lori how her mother went a bit overboard and insisted Rick take all the baby furniture they had saved.  Rick and Shane follow them, silent and both looking uncomfortable as Lori discusses the breast milk she’s pumped and the formula she brought.  Carl is ignoring the adults, already parked in front of the TV.  

 

And soon Lori is saying good-bye and placing tiny Judith in Beth’s arms.  They leave without much fuss, Rick had been expecting Lori to march back out with both Judith and Carl, cancelling the weekend, and he’s a bit shell shocked that it went so easily once Lori realized Beth would be present nearly the whole time.  

 

Rick and Beth are standing in the foyer, the TV a room away is the only noise.  “Do you want to hold your daughter?” Beth asks softly.  Judith is awake and looking at Beth with curious eyes.  Rick takes her gently, being very careful, and then he’s cradling his daughter for the first time.  And Rick gives the baby a soft smile as he starts to cry.

 

* * *

  
Rick turns out to be better with Judith than Carl.  It isn’t Rick’s fault, or Carl’s, it seems Shane is doing a pretty good job of winning Carl over, Beth learns as Rick and his son argue over an R rated movie Shane let Carl watch before.  Carl is eleven now, and his rebellious streak is already starting to show.  

 

“Shane let’s me watch whatever I want.”  

 

“I don’t care what Shane does, I am your father, and you will not watch R rated movies in my house.”  

 

Beth is holding Judith, and her face is scrunching at the yelling around her, and Beth can tell she’s about to start wailing so she intervenes. “Instead of watching a movie, how about some Halo?”  Shane has also gotten Carl an Xbox One, so Carl’s old Xbox now stays at Rick’s house and Beth can see the line of Halo games on the shelf.  

 

“It’s no fun by yourself,” Carl pouts, turning to Beth.  

 

“You won’t be playing by yourself.  I’m going to school you in the art of sniping while jet packing.”  

 

Both Carl and Rick look surprised.  “You play videogames?” Carl asks in disbelief.  

 

“My last boyfriend is going to fail his second year in college if he doesn’t stop playing videogames and start going to class.  The only way to get him to stop playing was bribing him with se—um, ... sesame chicken?” Beth’s save is rather pathetic.  

 

“Sesame chicken?” Carl laughs.  “That’s the weirdest sex term I’ve ever heard.”  

 

“You shouldn’t know any sex terms,” Rick frowns.  

 

“Dad, I’m _eleven_.  Yeesh.” Carl rolls his eyes.  

 

But the argument is over, Judith never starts crying, and Rick cradles his daughter while Beth and Carl play Halo 3.  Beth is terrible at the game, she’s more of a hide in the corner, invisible, and stab whoever runs by kind of player.  Zach had been very into gaming, and it was either play with him or watch him play for hours.  But she and Carl have enough fun, Carl isn’t as ruthless as Zach so it is way more enjoyable, and she keeps an eye on Rick, who spends most of his time staring at Judith in his arms.  

 

Rick successfully gives Judith a bottle, burps her and gets through changing a messy diaper but every strange noise Judith makes has Rick freezing in alarm.   Rick even puts Judith to bed without Beth’s help, and he has the baby monitor on so loud that they can hear each tiny snore Judith makes.

 

Beth and Carl play Halo until Rick sends Carl off to bed.  Carl goes off far more cheerful than he was at the start of the evening.  And Beth spends the rest of the night on the couch, making out with Rick.  He’s hard and even though Beth promises to be quiet he’s too paranoid to go through with sex with Carl right upstairs.  

 

“Rick, you did fine tonight.  You hardly even needed me with Judith.” Beth tells him while Rick nibbles on her ear.  

 

“Fine?  Without you Carl would have rioted and then Judith would have been screaming.”  Rick’s blue eyes are so earnest and Beth feels her heart swelling at that look.  

 

And Beth knows then she’s in trouble.  She’s falling for Rick.

 

-


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted November 2014 - January 2015 on ff.net.
> 
> Not beta-ed, all mistakes are my own.

Beth’s acceptance package from Emory comes in April.  When Beth gets home from school her mother and father are both waiting with the thick envelope and huge smiles.  Beth opens it, reads the acceptance letter, and both her parents hug her and start planning.  Emory.  Emory is her top choice, it’s in Atlanta and it’s a very good school with a theater program.  _And it’s in Atlanta_. Beth isn’t ready.  She’s not ready to give up Rick Grimes.  And it dawns on her, how much she loves hanging out with his kids, how much fun she has when it’s just her and Rick.  Even when they aren’t having sex, Beth loves just being with him, whether it’s watching a football game or trying to teach him to make a meal without using the microwave.  She loves Rick.

 

“I’ve been thinking about taking an off year,” Beth says suddenly, interrupting her parents’ excitement.  They stare at her blankly.

 

“What do you mean?” Her mother speaks first, “Emory is your first choice.”

 

“I know.  It’s just… I’ve been working very hard, and I’m afraid I’m burned out.  I think I need a break,” Beth tries to say calmly.  It is a plausible lie, many kids her age take a year off before starting school. 

 

“This is the first we’ve heard of you being burned out.  Why is that?”  Hershel’s tone is stern. 

 

Beth tries to keep calm.  She’s terrible at lying straight out.  She’s much better at lying by omission, or over the phone.  “I-I didn’t want to worry you.”

 

“Sweetie, you know we would never put intentionally pressure on you.  You’ve always studied hard without our interference.  And if you give up this chance it’s possible that it’s gone forever.”  Her mother is doing her best to stay understanding. 

 

“Is this because of a boy?”  Hershel interrupts. 

 

“What?”  Beth tries not to sound guilty. 

 

“Is this because Jimmy isn’t going to school?  His father told me Jimmy is staying in town, he’s going to work since he didn’t get that football scholarship.” 

 

Beth blinked.  This was news to her, but then again she hadn’t really being paying attention to gossip lately.  Only listening enough to make sure she wasn’t in it.  “There’s no boy.”  And that wasn’t a lie.  No one would call Rick a _boy_.  “If it makes you feel better, I could take some community college classes, get some of the core classes out of the way before I go to a bigger school.” 

 

“Beth, please, we don’t understand where this is coming from,” Her mother looks so worried. 

 

“You’re going to school.  This is ridiculous.  Take all the time you need this summer for a break and then you’re going to school in the fall.”  Hershel’s temper finally flares, and so does Beth’s.  She may not be as quick to temper as her father or sister, but she has the same fire burning inside that they do. 

 

“You can’t make me. I’m eighteen.”  Beth says stubbornly. 

 

“That’s right.  You’re eighteen.  And an adult.  If you aren’t going to college then you can move out after graduation.  You can find a job, support yourself, and take all the time you need.  We won’t support you with anything.” 

 

“What?  Daddy, that’s not fair.”  Move out?  The whole point of staying out of school was to stay to be with Rick.  But if her parents kicked her out, where would she go?  Maggie lives in Macon while going to school.  Shawn lives at home when he isn’t in a dorm room.  Beth has never had a real job before, just babysitting and helping out on the farm during the summer.  She has very little money saved. 

 

“Those are my terms, either you go to a good school or you move out.”  Hershel’s voice is resolute. 

 

“Fine.”  Beth stands angrily and starts to leave. 

 

“Wait!  Where are you going?”  Annette looks lost, like she doesn’t know whether to back her husband or go after her baby girl. 

 

“Out.  I’m an adult, after all.”  Beth says shortly while she grabs her purse and then she’s out the door, slamming it with all her worth. 

 

* * *

 

Rick doesn’t ask why she’s upset.  He just takes her in his arms and carries her up the stairs.  He presses soft kisses into her skin as he undresses her.  He takes her with slow but powerful, languid thrusts and Beth wants to cry at how perfect it is.  How could she even begin to think about leaving him?

 

Afterwards, Rick holds her against his chest and runs his hand soothingly through her hair.  “You wanna talk about it?” Rick asks quietly.

 

“Daddy and I had a huge fight today,” Beth starts.  

 

“Yeah?  What about?”  

 

“I … I got my acceptance letter from Emory University today and I told him I don’t want to go to college right away.  I want to take a year off.”  

 

“What?” Rick stills his movements and shifts to look her in the eye.  

 

“I told him I want to stay on the farm another year, take a break.”  

 

“But you’ve talked about Emory University for months.  You were so excited for their theater program and moving to Atlanta.”  

 

“Things change.”  

 

“What things?” Rick’s tone is wary, like he’s dreading what she’s about to say.  

 

But Beth forges on. “C’mon, are you saying you want me to move away?  To Atlanta?”  

 

“You’re staying for me?” And Rick doesn’t look thrilled like Beth wants him to be.  

 

“I’ll be out of high school, besides the age gap what’s going to stop us?”  

 

“No.” Rick says firmly.  

 

“What?” Beth pulls out of his arms to sit up.  Rick mirrors her and they’re sitting facing each other in his bed.  

 

“You cannot stay here for me.”  

 

“Why not?  Rick, we have a great thing going.  The sex is fantastic and I adore your kids.”  

 

“Beth… you can’t do this.  This is just… this is just sex.  You’ve said it yourself.”  

 

“Yeah, back in November it was just sex.  Are you saying you don’t have any feelings for me?  We’ve been fucking for months and you don’t feel _anything_?”  

 

“No, that’s not what I’m saying.”  

 

“Really?  ‘Cuz that’s what it sounds like.  What were you thinking would happen when I go to college?”  

 

“We’d stop.  You’d go to school, go act and sing and you’ll meet someone else.”  

 

“So you don’t even want to keep seeing me if I go to school?” Beth can’t believe how hurt she feels.  Rick doesn’t want her?  

 

“Beth, I don’t want to stand in the way of your future.”  

 

“Fuck you, Rick.  Just say that all you wanted was sex with an eighteen year old.  That you never cared about me.”  

 

“That’s not true—“  

 

“No?  Then what is?”  Beth is out of the bed now, gathering her clothes and pulling them on.  She feels dirty.

 

“You can’t give up school, not for me.”  

 

“Why the hell not?”  

 

“When I met Lori she was nineteen, she was in college and she quit school to move to King County for me.  And ten years later she resented the hell out of me.  We were both miserable.”  

 

“So you think I’m no better than Lori?”  

 

“That’s not—Beth, you can’t give up school because of _me_.”  

 

“Fuck you.”  Beth finally has all her clothes back on and she’s so mad she wants to punch something.  Instead she knocks the lamp off the bedside table.  It doesn’t even break, cushioned by the carpet it lands on.  

 

Rick is also now out of the bed, pulling on his jeans. “Beth—“  

 

“I would _never_ cheat.  I would _never_ sleep with your best friend.  I can’t believe you think I’m like _her_.”  

 

“You’re not, but Beth—“  

 

“No.  I’m leaving.”  And Beth storms out of the room, down the stairs, she barely remembers to grab her coat and purse and then she’s gone.  

 

Ten minutes later she’s marching into her own house.  She’s got look like a disaster.  She’s been crying, eyes red and puffy, her clothes are askew and hair a mess.  

 

Her daddy is sitting by the front door and he looks alarmed by her appearance.  “Bethy, are you okay?”  

 

“I’m great.  I’m one hundred percent fantastic.  And don’t worry, I’m going to Emory in the fall and I’m never coming back to this stupid town!”  Hershel just watches in shock as she angrily retreats up the stairs to her room.  She slams the door and throws herself on her bed to cry properly and thankfully, no one disturbs her.

 

-


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted November 2014 - January 2015 on ff.net.
> 
> Not beta-ed, all mistakes are my own.

“Yeah, Rick’s a real ass, not wanting you to give up college for him.” Tara rolls her eyes and gives Beth a look that clearly reads, ‘you’re an idiot.’  

 

“Whatever, can we just stop talking about him?”  

 

“I’m not the one that keeps bringing him up.” Tara gives her a look.  It’s true, for the past two days all Beth has done is bitch about Rick Grimes and what a selfish jerk he is.  At first Tara was a good friend and agreed with Beth but now that Beth wouldn’t stop complaining Tara was getting more honest and less sympathetic. 

 

Beth sends Tara a glare before changing the subject, “I want to have some fun this weekend.  Is anyone having any parties?”  Tara isn’t the only one tired of Rick, Beth’s mind keeps replaying their argument over and over in her head and she stubbornly refuses to acknowledge that she might have left Rick’s too hastily, that she should have heard Rick out before storming off.  She doesn’t want to be reasonable. 

 

“The only one I know of is Jimmy’s party,” Tara frowns. 

 

“Ugh.  Whatever, I just want to be a normal eighteen year old.  No sex with hot dads in their thirties.”  Beth sighs. 

 

“Are you sure?  The party is celebrating that Kathy Miller is now sixteen and Jimmy won’t go to jail now if they’re caught screwing.”  

 

“Oh god.” That sounded like the worst party in the world.  “We’re going.”

 

* * *

 

Beth is hugging the toilet, throwing up everything she ate in the last five years, when the cops arrive to break up the party.  Tara is rubbing her back and found a clip to pull Beth’s hair out of her face.  She hears the sounds of kids freaking out and the powerful voices of officers but doesn’t really process it.  Not until a familiar voice is behind her talking to Tara.  

 

“How’s she doin’?”  

 

“She’s more sick than drunk.  She was drinking red beer after taking shots of Jaeger.”  

 

“Rick?”  Beth cries, she sits up slowly, her head and stomach are both not fans of quick movements.  

 

“Hey there sweetheart, how you feelin’?” Rick’s soothing voice is much closer and Beth blinks blearily at Rick.  And then he’s pressing a cool washcloth onto her forehead.  

 

“Rick, I’m so sorry, please don’ be mad at me!”  Beth, already forgetting to move slowly, throws herself into Rick’s arms.  Rick is squatting next to her and falls backwards at her sudden movements and Beth buries her face in Rick’s shirt and cries while her head spins.  

 

“Is everything okay in here?”

 

Beth can’t see Shane Walsh but she recognizes his voice, so she turns her head and yells, “Get out of here, jerk face!”  

 

“Is that the youngest Greene girl?”  Shane sounds more amused than offended which only makes Beth huff crossly into Rick’s shirt.

 

“Yeah, she and Tara here are the ones the tipped us off on the party.”  

 

“She’s not as drunk as she looks,” Tara tries to keep Beth out of trouble but Beth then interrupts with, “Rick, I love you!”  

 

“Okay, fine, she’s pretty drunk.” Tara backpedals.  “But she doesn’t normally drink!  Like, at all!”  

 

“Whatever.  I don’t feel like dealin’ with a pissed off Hershel Greene.  You’ll take these girls home?”  

 

“Yeah, I got it.”  Rick nods and Shane retreats from the bathroom.

 

And suddenly Beth’s world shifts and Rick is helping her stand and Tara is at her other side holding her up.  

 

“Rick, why aren’t you in your uniform?”  Beth frowns as she takes in Rick’s typical flannel and jeans combo. 

 

“I’m not on duty, I’m just here for you,” Rick says quietly but Beth’s heart sores.  She throws herself at Rick again and he’s ready for it this time.  “So you forgive me?  You’re not mad?”  

 

“I was never mad.  Now c’mon, we need to get you out of here.  I need you to walk.”  

 

“You can carry me!  I told Tara all about how strong you are, how you can hold me up while we fuck.”  

 

“Wow, volume control, sheesh!” Tara whispers fiercely.  Shane is nowhere in sight, thankfully.

 

“Oh right.  We cannot get caught.  We don’ want that,” Beth tries to whisper but fails miserably.  

 

“Okay, sweetheart, I need you to walk for me.  Okay?”

 

Beth nods, eager to please Rick and between Rick and Tara, they make it down the stairs and into the yard.  There are a lot of flashing lights, and there’s even a police wagon that they are loading drunk kids into.  No one pays them any attention, and just to make sure Tara and Beth climb into the backseat of the cruiser.  

 

“This is my fault, I’m sorry Mr. Grimes, I should have been keeping a better eye on Beth.  But she normally sips at one beer for a whole night!  But I should have known better.  I’m sorry.”  Beth giggles at Tara’s nervous babbling.  She must be intimidated by being in a police car even though she’s not in trouble.  

 

“Tara, it’s not your fault.  Don’t worry.  You did the right thing by calling me.”  

 

Beth is leaning heavily on Tara’s shoulder staring at the cage wall separating her from Rick when a brilliant idea pops into her head.  “Oi!  Rick!  We should have sex back here!”  The bench is wide and long, they would both fit.  “We could roll play!  You could cuff me, I’ll pretend to be a prostitute.  Tara, do you still have those stripper heels?”  

 

“Oh my god, settle down you horn dog,” Tara rolls her eyes.  “Rick, the Greenes think Beth is staying at my house tonight, and while my dad misses a lot of things on his pain meds, I think he’ll notice a super drunk Beth.  You better take her to your place.”  

 

“You think that’s a good idea?”  Rick sounds unsure and Beth begins to panic.  

 

“It’s a brilliant idea!  I’ll be good, Rick, please.  Don’t leave me!  I love you!” and Beth begins to cry all over again.  

 

“Hey, Beth, sweetheart, you’re okay.  You’re right, it’s a great idea.”  

 

“Please, Rick, I just wanna be with you.”  Beth sniffs.  

 

“Okay, Beth, okay.”  Rick soothes.  

 

Soon he’s pulling up in his driveway, and now that they’re less likely to be spotted, Rick picks her up bridal style to carry her into the house while Tara opens doors.  “We’ll take her to the master bedroom.  Can you grab a bottle of Gatorade from the fridge?”  

 

And then Rick is taking her up the stairs and depositing her on his bed.  He makes sure she’s sitting up, leaning back on every pillow he owns before disappearing. He returns with the small trashcan from the bathroom and Tara shows up with the bottle of blue Gatorade.  

 

“Okay, I want you to drink this entire bottle of Gatorade.  If you feel sick use the trashcan.  I’m going to take Tara home, I’ll be right back, okay?”  

 

“You said you wouldn’t leave me!”

 

“Beth, sweetheart, I’ll be right back, okay?  You’re in my bed, I’m coming back to you okay?”  

 

“Okay,” Beth nods glumly.  

 

“Drink,” Rick gestures to the bottle in Beth’s hand and she takes a sip to appease him.  

 

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Tara gives her a quick hug and then they disappear.  Beth doesn’t know how long they’re gone, she moodily sips her drink and stares at the wall.  She doesn’t throw up again.  

 

Rick returns what feels like an hour later, but Tara’s house is really a five minute drive.  Rick brings her a slice of white bread and makes sure she eats all of it.  “How are you feelin’?”  He asks with his serious, blue eyes.  

 

“Terrible.  I said terrible things to you, Rick.”  

 

“It’s okay, baby girl, its okay.”  

 

“No.  It’s not.  I _love_ you.”  

 

Rick’s eyes look sad and he changes the subject.  “Do you want to take a shower?  That might help you feel better.”  

 

“And brush my teeth?  They feel gross.”  Rick nods and helps her out of the bed.  

 

He strips her carefully, but she’s not wearing much.  Beth isn’t wearing her heels anymore, she has no idea when they came off, and she’s not wearing a bra under her dress, just panties.  

 

Rick helps her into the shower, she leans against the wall and watches Rick quickly strip and then he joins her and turns on the water.  Beth tries to grab his cock three times during the shower, he’s half aroused but each time he distracts her with soft kisses and he washes her hair and tells her how beautiful she is.  

 

After the shower she dries herself, her motor skills are starting to get better, she even manages to brush her teeth while Rick grabs one of his flannels he knows she is fond of and she slides it on happily.  He’s wearing sweatpants as they get back in bed, he keeps her sitting up leaning against his chest, telling her if she lies down and closes her eyes she’s likely to get dizzy and throw up again.  He makes her finish the Gatorade, telling her it’s the best hangover preventer.  Beth can see an empty bottle of Dewar’s scotch on his nightstand and wonders if he drank it all after their fight.  Rick doesn’t let her sleep until her drink is gone and she drifts to sleep against his warm chest, lulled by his heartbeat.

 

* * *

 

Beth wakes not feeling nearly as awful as she should.  She remembers taking Jaeger shots with Jimmy (which tasted awful) and then chased it with red beer (which was worse.  Who’s brilliant idea was it to mix tomato juice with beer?).  She also remembers Tara using her phone to call Rick and then Rick coming to get her taking care of her.  And she also remembers telling Rick that _she loves him_.  Rick made it clear that he doesn’t want their relationship to actually be a relationship and she confesses her love days later?  She moans in embarrassment and curls in on herself.  

 

“How you feelin’?  I have some Tylenol for you.”  Rick’s voice is deep and soft and just reminds Beth that yes, she does love this man.  

 

Beth opens her eyes, she’s still in Rick’s bed and he’s sitting up beside her with a book and wearing glasses.   _He’s wearing glasses_.  Beth can’t believe how good he looks wearing them, where they hell did they come from?  “You wear glasses?” She asks instead of answering his question.  

 

He shrugs, “Only for reading.”  He closes his book and reaches for a pill bottle and glass of water.  

 

Beth sits up slowly, and gratefully takes the offered pills and water.  Rick watches her swallow and he takes his glasses off and sets them on top of his book.  Rick is shirtless and he looks casual and relaxed and Beth still wants to pull him down on top of her and have her wicked way with him.  

 

“Better?” Rick asks after Beth hands him the empty glass.  Beth nods.  Rick doesn’t look like he’s in a hurry to get rid of her, despite their fight and her confessions.  “I sorry about our fight the other day.  I didn’t handle the situation well.”  

 

Beth grimaces.  They’re going to rehash this while she’s hung-over?  Perfect.  “Don’t worry about it.  It’s okay.  This is just been about the sex and I read too much into it.” Beth mumbles.  

 

“No,” Rick tone is gentle but firm.  “I care about you.  You’ve… you helped me out of a dark place, you helped me take care of my kids.  Beth, I… have very strong feelings for you.”  

 

“But you don’t want me,” Beth can remember the previous night and how he wouldn’t even have sex with her.  

 

“Don’t want you?  I’ve never wanted anything, anyone more than I want you.”  

 

“Rick, I’m getting mixed signals from you.”  Beth replies dryly.

 

“Beth, you’re eighteen.  You your whole life ahead of you.  You’ve got the best voice I’ve ever heard, you’re going to go on and be in Lay Mizzes.”  

 

“ _Les Misérables_.”

 

“Yes, that.  And you can’t do that here, in King County, with me.  I don’t think you’re anything like Lori.  I don’t think you’d ever cheat on me.  But I can’t take away your future and dreams.”  

 

“And you don’t even want to try long-distance?”  

 

“I work sixty hour weeks and have two kids, you’ll be in Atlanta.  I don’t want to weigh you down.”  Rick pulls Beth into his arms and Beth goes willingly.  

 

Rick words make sense, but she doesn’t like them.  “We can still be together until I leave?  Until the end of the summer?”  

 

“If you’ll have me.  I still want you more than anything.”  

 

Beth nods and they meet in a kiss.  Beth will go to college.  But she has until August to convince Rick not to end this.

 

-


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted November 2014 - January 2015 on ff.net.
> 
> Not beta-ed, all mistakes are my own.

August is fast approaching and Beth dreads each day she marks them off on her calendar.  She believes she is making progress with Rick.  Rick has changed, he’s more human than he was a year ago.  His drinking has gone down, he becomes more social, and he even smiles and laughs regularly again.  Beth knows she’s a big part of it.  Her, along with Carl and Judith.  She and Rick do not bring up the taboo topic of what will happen at the end of the summer. Spring blossoms, Beth graduates near the top of her class, and then summer burns away the remaining days.

 

Beth goes into her last weekend helping Rick with Judith determined and a bit smug.  Rick is perfectly capable and confident now in his childrearing skills, it helps that Judith is one of the easiest and happiest babies Beth’s ever seen.  Judith rarely cries or fusses yet no one seems to question why Beth is still assisting Rick on all his custody weekends.  Lori is still grateful for Beth’s help and her parents don’t suspect anything unusual in her desire to help Rick.  So their last weekend together starts the same as they usually do. 

 

Beth is confident that there’s no way Rick is going to end things with her.  They will figure out a long distance relationship.  She is only going to be in Atlanta, she’s not even leaving the state.  Long distance will work. Beth knows college guys, and she knows that none of them will tempt her, not after she’s had Rick.  And if anything, their relationship will be easier once she is at school because in Atlanta they won’t have to hide, no one will know them and no one will care about a bit of an age gap.  Beth is confident that Rick will have changed his mind. 

 

So, her last full weekend in her hometown is spent with Rick.  Next weekend her parents, plus Maggie and Shawn, will move her into her dorm room but for now she has one last weekend under the guise of helping Rick with Judith.  Friday night is spent on the couch eating popcorn and pizza while Carl keeps trying to explain the difference between all the different robots in the movie they are watching.

 

 “ _Transformers_ , not robots.”  Carl huffs for the fifth time when Beth misspeaks. 

 

“Right.  Autocons and Deceptobots.”  Beth purposely mixes the names up just to get an exasperated moan out of Carl.  Beth tries not to giggle and she winks at Rick when she notices him watching her with an amused grin.  She and Rick still haven’t talked about ending or continuing their affair yet but Beth is still confident in her success. 

 

Saturday night finds Carl at Duane’s house for a slumber party.  The second Rick puts a sleeping Judith into her crib Beth is yanking Rick into a kiss.  Rick chuckles at her eagerness and muffles the sound against her skin.  By the time they make it down the hallway and into Rick’s bedroom Beth is out of her sundress and Rick’s jeans are halfway down.  They fall onto the bed, and the mood is easy and carefree as Rick unclasps Beth’s bra and mouths the skin he exposes.  Neither is in a rush as they help each other out of their remaining clothes and exchange long kisses. 

 

Rick’s skin is tanned and contrasts nicely against her still pale skin and Beth takes a moment to admire the contrast as she straddles Rick’s waist.  His hands rest against the curve of her hips and he seems content to just stare up at her.  Beth preens under Rick’s heavy gaze and she arches her back to display her breasts for him.  Rick doesn’t resist and one hand leaves her hips to cup her palm sized breasts. 

 

It’s Beth, as usual, who finally reaches for a condom and rolls it expertly onto Rick’s length.  But it’s Rick who impatiently thrusts up into her as she slowly starts to sink onto his cock.  Once again both of Rick’s hands are on her hips and guide her into a steady rhythm.  The feel of Rick inside her, the fullness and friction, she never wants it to end.  Rick’s eyes are closed, clenched tight as he grunts and Beth can’t resist leaning down and stealing a sloppy kiss.  She ruins the steady rhythm and Rick’s arms wrap around her back to hold him against his chest as he rolls them over.  He takes up slower but deeper thrusts that send Beth mewling in pleasure. 

 

She peaks quicker than she would have liked, she doesn’t know the next time she and Rick will get a chance to be together.  Rick collapses beside her after he finishes and he barely has time to dispose of the condom before Beth stretches out over his chest.  Rick gently pulls her up into a kiss, the kiss is slow and it feels like Rick is trying to memorize the kiss.  And it the first time Beth doubts that she changed Rick’s mind.

 

Beth pulls away and she worries her bottom lip with her teeth as she studies Rick’s face.  “You’ll… won’t you come visit me?”  She asks hesitantly.  A feeling is quickly rising in her chest, squeezing her heart, failure. 

 

Rick wraps his arms around her and presses a soft kiss to her forehead.  “Beth…you already know I can’t.” 

 

Beth feels tears stinging in her eyes.  She can’t believe it.  Rick hasn’t voiced how much he cares for her, not since the morning after that awful party, but she can see it when Rick looks at her or when he touches her.  Rick doesn’t drink much anymore, just the occasional beer, and Beth knows it’s because of her.  Why is he so willing to give her up?  “I won’t be that far away.” 

 

“You need to let me go, Beth.  You’re meant for so much better than me.”  Rick’s voice is rough with unspoken emotions. 

 

Beth finally feels tears escape and slide down her cheeks.  She spends the rest of the night in Rick’s arms while he kisses away her tears. 

 

* * *

 

Maggie, of course, notices Beth’s melancholy state as she helps Beth pack later in the week.  “I was stoked to leave the farm.  You look like you’re being forced to leave.”  She comments to Beth when it’s only the two of them in Beth’s room. 

 

Maggie hasn’t wanted to hear anything about Beth’s affair with Rick.  She’s been convinced that the whole thing would blow up spectacularly and she wanted to claim no knowledge of anything when it did.  So it’s only then that Maggie hears what’s happened since Thanksgiving. 

 

Maggie’s reaction is not that of the typical overprotective big sister.  “Wow, Rick really is a saint.”  

 

“What?  You can’t take his side, you’re my sister,” Beth huffs. 

 

“Sweetie, Rick has the prettiest girl he’s ever gonna get, young and vibrant and amazing, and he turns you down because he doesn’t want to stand in the way of your future.  Seriously, I’m gonna write a letter to the Vatican.”  

 

“Rick could get any girl he wants, he’s super-hot and amazing in bed,” Beth mutters petulantly.  “Some harpy from church is going to snatch him up the second I’m gone.”  

 

“Are you seriously saying that you’d be fine giving up your acceptance to college, your dream to perform at the Fox Theater, just so you can pop out a litter of babies with Rick Grimes?”  Just the thought of that kind of life makes Maggie want to run for the hills. 

 

“Oh, wouldn’t they be the cutest babies ever?”  

 

“Oh god.  You would.  I know it.  And you probably wouldn’t ever resent Rick.  You’d turn into Momma, always baking and taking care of everyone.”  

 

“It sounds wonderful,” Beth replies with a dreamy smile. 

 

“No it does not!  Beth, c’mon, go to school and just see how it is.  There’s going to be cute boys everywhere.  You’ll get your first role in a production and you’ll be so glad you didn’t settle for Rick Grimes.”  Maggie believes her words.  She thinks all Beth needs is to finally get out of this town and experience how big the world really is. 

 

Beth pouts but stays silent.  She wouldn’t be settling if she stayed for Rick Grimes.  So she finishes packing and doesn’t bring up Rick again. 

 

The next day she spots Rick’s patrol car as they are heading out of town.  They drive by his parked patrol car too fast for Beth to catch if Rick saw her.  She turns in her seat to stare out the rear windshield and even when she can no longer see the familiar car she keeps looking back. 

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, this fic was going to end here. But I wrote this fic around the the time Beth was killed off so I wrote a different ending. Read on!


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted November 2014 - January 2015 on ff.net.
> 
> Not beta-ed, all mistakes are my own.

Beth tries her best to move on from Rick.  She does it spitefully, thinking revenge thoughts on Rick, Rick who doesn’t love her, just wanted her for sex but doesn’t actually want a commitment out of Beth.  Rick wanted to bang an eighteen year old in secret and now he’s done with her. A small part of Beth’s brain understands Rick’s reasoning, and it whispers that if you really love something you let it go and wait to see if it comes back.  But Beth drowns out the reasoning with making out with boys whose names she doesn’t care to learn.  

 

She even goes so far to have sex with a hipster with familiar stubble and wears flannel ironically.  Beth feels so dissatisfied afterwards.  The boy begs for her number and she gives him Lana’s number, Lana cheered with her in high school and is also attending Emory.   She’s also blonde and blue eyed and she wonders if Hipster will notice that she’s a different girl.  

 

She does keep loose tabs on Rick.  Tara is still in King County, she’s going to a local community college and then is planning to go the Academy.  She even has an internship at the sheriff’s office.  Between Tara and her mother she knows that Rick isn’t seeing anyone.  Her mother tells her about some of the ladies at church that have been trying to get Rick’s attention and Annette cannot understand why Rick is refusing them.  His divorce was finalized well over a year ago.  Beth secretly cheers but tells her mother that maybe Rick just wants to concentrate on being a dad.  

 

She sees Rick over Thanksgiving break.  She lies to her parents, telling them she’s going to a reunion party with her high school friends but instead she heads straight to Rick’s.  He’s happy to see her even though he didn’t have any warning.  It takes little effort to get Rick to give into her and they don’t even make it to his bed and fuck against the wall of his living room. Rick holds Beth’s thighs open and drives into her at a steady pace that has Beth loudly sharing her delight as she clings to Rick’s shoulders.  Rick’s ruined her for other men.

 

Later, when Rick has moved them to the couch and they are cuddling, Beth confesses to Rick about her encounter with Hipster (but leaves out the flannel and stubble part).  Rick is angry, but tries not to show it and he acts very understanding.  But he won’t meet her gaze and his shoulders are stiff with tension.  This is what he wanted, after all, for her to be free of him.  Beth is then irritated that he won’t show his anger, and she leaves with spiteful words hanging between them.  

 

Beth feels like a child after she leaves.  No wonder Rick wants her to go away and grow up, she’s acting like a kid.  He told her again he doesn’t want to trap her.  That she might not feel trapped now but ten years down the road she will resent him.  And Beth likes to think she isn’t like Lori, that she would never break Rick’s heart, never cheat on him, but maybe Lori thought the same thing when she was young?  Beth returns to school and stops partying and focuses on school.

 

Beth doesn’t see Rick again until Christmas.  They don’t exchange a single call, text or email, neither apologizes for Thanksgiving.  She doesn’t think he wants to hear from her.  She said some pretty hurtful things but Rick calls her a few nights before Christmas and Beth practically rushes out of the house that very moment.  She doesn’t even make an excuse, just yells to her mother she’s going out and takes off.  

 

Rick kisses her like he’s drowning, like he can’t live without her and Beth cries in his arms and tells him she’s sorry over and over.  Rick silences her with pleasure.  She breaks curfew for the first time, but she’s nineteen and doesn’t care when she finally returns at two in the morning and refuses to answer her mother’s questions.  

 

They stay in contact her next semester.  Rick even buys a laptop with a webcam so they can Skype.  Rick tells Beth she should date and see other guys, but Beth doesn’t.  Can’t. Really, no one sparks her fancy.  Beth does wonder whatever happened to Hipster, and after a catch up lunch with Lana she learns that Lana is in a serious relationship with him (his real name is Greg) and she tells Rick about it giggling that night.  

 

Beth spends her summer in Atlanta, she’s living in an apartment with three other girls and Rick visits her twice over the summer.  She has a part in a musical, she doesn’t have a single line to herself, she’s just dancing and singing in the chorus, but Rick makes it to the show on one of his visits and gives her a bouquet of roses afterwards.  They share her tiny twin bed in her closet sized room and Rick leaves her the next morning deliciously sore and her roommates are all jealous of the handsome, older deputy.  

 

Beth tells her mother she’s keeping in contact with Rick and that he even came to one of her shows.  Her mother thinks it’s sweet, that Rick sees Beth as family after all her help with Judith.  Beth doesn’t elaborate.

 

Another year passes.  Beth’s sophomore year goes quickly, she’s in both a school production and another local Atlanta production that year and she’s constantly busy.  She does meet a guy that catches her eye, he’s a history professor, he’s in his early thirties and they spend a few weeks flirting. He isn’t Beth’s teacher but they meet because they both get coffee at the same time from a coffee stand outside the library. Beth constantly compares him to Rick while they chat and walk across campus.  He’s thin but no hard muscles, rarely works out, he is terrified of children, his face is smooth, his brown hair is straight and his eyes are brown.  Gareth finally asks her out and she agrees to dinner.  

 

She calls Rick after Gareth asks her out, she calls him again before the date and then immediately after.  Beth almost believes him when Rick tells her to have fun on the date.   Gareth is funny but there’s no spark and Beth thinks it’s a bad sign if after every story he tells she’s thinking about how funny Rick will find it when she retells it to him later.  Beth tells Gareth about Rick, how they aren’t together and Rick is encouraging her to see new guys and how she’s clearly failing.  Gareth agrees that Rick is an idiot and Beth is excited that someone finally agrees with her but Gareth tells her he’s also a genius.  Beth gives him a kiss at the end of the night but it feels like she’s kissing her brother.  She doesn’t see him at the coffee stand from then on.  Rick is more upset than she is, who does this guy think he is not asking for a second date?  He should be crawling after her begging, Rick tells Beth.

 

She comes home for her second summer.  Beth can’t believe Judith is walking and talking.  She’s two and a diva and the cutest thing on the planet.    And then Rick drops a bombshell on her.  

 

He’s moving.  

 

He’s moving closer to Atlanta.  “I’ve been interviewing for a Major position at Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and they made me an offer.  It’s nearly twice the pay.  I’ve talked with Lori, we won’t change the custody arrangement since I’ll only be forty-five minutes away from the kids.”  

 

“And you’ll only be forty-five minutes from Atlanta.”  Beth feels faint.  

 

“I know it’s still a long drive but we can--”  

 

“Yes.”  

 

“Yes?  Yes what?” Rick grins at her eagerness.  

 

“I don’t care.  That commute is totally worth it.”  

 

Rick pulls her into his arms, grinning and whispers in her ear, “I love you Beth Greene.”  Rick makes her promise that school and acting will be her main priority. Beth agrees, she would agree to anything after Rick finally admits that he loves her. 

 

Beth spends her junior year commuting from Rick’s new house.  She hates the drive but loves living with Rick, and she stays in the city whenever the weather is poor or if she’s too exhausted after a rehearsal, at the apartment her parents think she lives in full-time. They go on real dates, no one in the county cares about their relationship besides the occasional whispered, ‘she looks a little young, right?’  But Beth just smiles.  She has her future _and_ Rick.

 

She tells her mother that she’s spending a lot of time at Rick’s, she can do her laundry for free and eat home cooked meals and she gets to see Carl and Judith occasionally.  Her mother still doesn’t pick up on what Beth is hinting at, not until Lori tells her.   Judith is three and endearing and happily tells her mother that Beth and Daddy kiss on the lips, like Mommy and Shane do.  

 

Annette Greene is furious.  Strangely, Hershel isn’t.  He sees Rick as a son and watched Rick fall apart and then pull himself back together.  Hershel always suspected Beth’s involvement with Rick was more than either would admit.  He’s sees the look in Rick’s eyes when he looks at Beth, and Hershel knows that look.  He used to give Maggie’s mother the same look.  Maggie’s mother had been his salvation in a dark time in his life, much like he suspects Beth has been for Rick.  Plus there have been considerable age gaps with both of his wives.  Hershel also likes Rick more than Jimmy the quarterback who still lives in his parent’s basement or Zach the bright kid who got kicked out of college for possession of marijuana.  And a year later, when Rick shows Hershel the ring he wants to propose to Beth with, Hershel gives his blessing. 

 

Rick proposes after Beth’s final show in _Les Misérables_.  She’s still in her Cosette costume, surrounded by her cast mates and crew, who all cheer as Beth tackles Rick as she says yes.  

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they lived happily ever after! (Even if the zombies come, Rick somehow takes control of Grady Memorial Hospital from day 1, Dawn off moping in the corner, nobody getting raped or forced to stay, it's a grand ol time. The End.)


End file.
